| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from King Henry VI by William Shakespeare: And look upon, as if the tragedy
Were play'd in jest by counterfeiting actors?
Here on my knee I vow to God above,
I'll never pause again, never stand still,
Till either death hath clos'd these eyes of mine,
Or fortune given me measure of revenge.
EDWARD.
O Warwick, I do bend my knee with thine,
And in this vow do chain my soul to thine!--
And, ere my knee rise from the earth's cold face,
I throw my hands, mine eyes, my heart to thee,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Heroes by Charles Kingsley: red-hot from head to heel, while the grass hissed and smoked
beneath his tread.
And when he saw the maiden alone, he stopped; and she looked
boldly up into his face without moving, and began her magic
song:-
'Life is short, though life is sweet; and even men of brass
and fire must die. The brass must rust, the fire must cool,
for time gnaws all things in their turn. Life is short,
though life is sweet: but sweeter to live for ever; sweeter
to live ever youthful like the Gods, who have ichor in their
veins - ichor which gives life, and youth, and joy, and a
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Lemorne Versus Huell by Elizabeth Drew Stoddard: "I do not know."
"I have fallen in love with you. It happened on the very day when
I passed you on the way to the Glen. I never got away from the
remembrance of seeing your hand on the mane of my horse."
He waited for me to speak, but I could not; the balance of my
mind was gone. Why should this have happened to me--a slave? As it
had happened, why did I not feel exultant in the sense of power
which the chance for freedom with him should give?
"What is it, Margaret? your face is as sad as death."
"How do you call me 'Margaret?'"
"As I would call my wife--Margaret."
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton: And at this point the ladies went up to the drawing-
room.
In the library, in spite of weightier presences, Lawrence
Lefferts predominated.
The talk, as usual, had veered around to the Beauforts,
and even Mr. van der Luyden and Mr. Selfridge
Merry, installed in the honorary arm-chairs tacitly
reserved for them, paused to listen to the younger man's
philippic.
Never had Lefferts so abounded in the sentiments
that adorn Christian manhood and exalt the sanctity of
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